Top 12 Books for Entrepreneurs

There's no doubt that knowledge is power and the books below are a must read for those starting their own online business. In fact, these books have been selected exclusively for Internet startups. They're divided into two categories – those for startups in the concept stage and for those startups in launch mode. With Christmas around the corner, they also make great gifts! Note: These are in no particular order.

Concept Stage:

1. The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki - Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley icon who knows how to start businesses. His "pitch deck" format has become a staple in most Team and a Dream engagements. He also talks about the rough road of dealing with Venture Capitalists.
2. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore - How do you identify your early markets and your earliest customers? How do you get to that market quickly and grow to a "real company"? This book provides the roadmap.
3. Good To Great by Jim Collins - The home of the Sweet Spot Analysis used in many Team and a Dream conversations. Jim Collins calls it the HedgeHog Principal. Find out why some companies have continuing growth and some don't. What is it that makes them different? Based on 5 years and thousands of manhours of research.
4. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey - Covey details seven habits, if implemented, help people improve themselves. These habits can also help entrepreneurs deal with the unstable and unpredictable world of startups.
5. The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman - Important reading for anyone wanting a good overview of how the world is changing in dramatic ways. Globalization is here. You decide what to make of it.
6. Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston - A look into the minds of the founders of Apple, PayPal, Flickr and many more as they tell in their own words what life is like hour after hour behind the keyboard, developing technologies and bringing them into market.

Launch Stage:

1. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell - Eye popping insights into viral marketing, the world of cool and why some things catch on and others don't.
2. Artful Making by Lee Devin and Robert Austin - What managers need to know about how software teams work. Taking lessons from the theatre and other art venues, authors Rob Austin and Lee Devin drive home some important ideas of working in a more creative way, while still making deadlines.
3. The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida - Big trends book on how a new breed of the knowledge worker is coming into its own. 
4. The Flight of the Creative Class by Richard Florida - Why America needs to be wary of the cultures it creates for today's knowledge workers. We want to encourage creative people and growth of cultures around them. Instead, we are chasing them from our shores.
5. A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink - Left brain and right brain will combine to create the ideal worker of tomorrow. Dan Pink outlines some terrific ideas on how to get your creative side in gear for today and tomorrow's business world.
6. Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson - Find out how to achieve successful marketing results using non-traditional marketing tactics to make your company stand out.

Honorable mentions go to The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. No time to read? Pick up an audiobook version and listen to it in your car - you'll save some trees as well!

Are there any other books you would recommend? If so, let us know by posting a comment below.

By: Yasmine

Comments

[Avneet Jolly]

I've read about a third of these books. While great on ideas/ concepts/ theory, I find that there is a gap between theory and practice.

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[Creative Financing for Startups]

Thanks for compiling the list. You might be interested in my list of the Top Ten Entrepreneurial Movies.

http://smartstartup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/06/top_ten_entrepr.html

[Sean Murphy]

This is a good list for the concept stage, I would add "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Clayton Christensen and "Four Steps to the Epiphany" by Steve Blank for your concept stage list. For a marketing focused list I would point to an article that Mark Duncan (http://www.askmar.com/) and I collaborated on "Crucial Marketing Concepts" that's available in a short and long form here:
http://www.skmurphy.com/resources/emerging-product-introduction/
the long form also includes book reviews for a dozen good books on new product introduction.

There is also a good list of business books at
http://personalmba.com/recommended-business-books/
that you might want to think about for your Launch Stage section.

I would also second the movies "Startup.Com" and Tucker from Peter Ireland's list (but none of the others) and add the "Triumph of the Nerds" documentary by Robert Cringely on PBS.

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